Amsterdam 1970

Amsterdam 1970

The Netherlands hosted the Eurovision Song Contest once again in 1970. The contest took place in the capital, Amsterdam, however only 12 delegations made the trip to the Dutch capital due to what was referred to as "the voting scandal" of the year before.

Where to go?

There were plenty of host countries to choose from as a result of the four-way tie in 1969; the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Eventually, Amsterdam was chosen to host the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest by the drawing of lots. For the second year in a row, the number of participants went down.

Finland, Norway, Sweden and Portugal were all dissatisfied about the voting in the 1969 contest when 4 countries were declared winners and withdrew from the contest. To ensure that a similar incident did not happen again a tie rule was created. The rule stated that if two or more songs gained the same number of points, each song had to be performed once more. After these performances, the juries (with the exception of the countries that had tied) had to select their favourite song. This had to be done by the showing of hands. If entries still were to tie, both of them would share the first position.

Irish eyes were smiling

Ireland had its first victory in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest with Dana's All Kinds Of Everything. The teenager went on to score a major international hit with her entry.

Facts & figures

Brazil, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Chile broadcast the contest live by satellite;

Of the singers who competed on the stage this year a number were already established performers. Notably, the United Kingdom sent Mary Hopkin while David Alexandre Winter represented Luxembourg;

The contest also featured an appearance of the then unknown Julio Iglesias, singing for Spain.

The show

The contest

The show

Final

Saturday, 21 March, 1970, 19:00

Location

RAI Congrescentrum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Host broadcaster

NOS

Presented by

Willy Dobbe

Executive Producer

Warner van Kampen

EBU Supervisor

Clifford Brown

TV Director

Theo Ordeman

Interval Act

Don de Lurio Dancers

The Netherlands hosted the Eurovision Song Contest once again in 1970. The contest took place in the capital, Amsterdam, however only 12 delegations made the trip to the Dutch capital due to what was referred to as "the voting scandal" of the year before.

Where to go?

There were plenty of host countries to choose from as a result of the four-way tie in 1969; the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Eventually, Amsterdam was chosen to host the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest by the drawing of lots. For the second year in a row, the number of participants went down.

Finland, Norway, Sweden and Portugal were all dissatisfied about the voting in the 1969 contest when 4 countries were declared winners and withdrew from the contest. To ensure that a similar incident did not happen again a tie rule was created. The rule stated that if two or more songs gained the same number of points, each song had to be performed once more. After these performances, the juries (with the exception of the countries that had tied) had to select their favourite song. This had to be done by the showing of hands. If entries still were to tie, both of them would share the first position.

Irish eyes were smiling

Ireland had its first victory in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest with Dana's All Kinds Of Everything. The teenager went on to score a major international hit with her entry.

Facts & figures

Brazil, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Chile broadcast the contest live by satellite;

Of the singers who competed on the stage this year a number were already established performers. Notably, the United Kingdom sent Mary Hopkin while David Alexandre Winter represented Luxembourg;

The contest also featured an appearance of the then unknown Julio Iglesias, singing for Spain.